Cars are backed up at rush hour along Harding Place and Nolensville Pike, the busiest intersection in Nashville. / Dipti Vaidya / The Tennessean

Written by

Duane W. Gang

The Tennessean

In fact, congestion has nearly doubled over last three decades, a national traffic study reports, and now nearly half of the miles driven during morning and evening rush hour are considered clogged.

The congestion costs commuters a lot of money, pollutes the region’s air and causes a bit of stress.

With Nashville growing — the 10-county Middle Tennessee region could hit 3 million residents by 2040, one new estimate shows — the problem is only expected to get worse.

The city’s top 20 busiest intersections see more than 1 million vehicles pass through every day. The number could grow by an estimated 15 percent over the next two decades.

“We are thinking about problems that exist today,” said Michael Skipper, executive director of the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which prioritizes federal transportation funding. “But we also have a responsibility to identify problems out into the future.”

So what options are there to help solve not only today’s congestion but tomorrow’s?

Adding more lanes is always an option, but one transportation planners say is not cost-effective long term. Adding more space for turn lanes helps. So does improved mass transit and denser and more pedestrian friendly development.

Growing congestion

Since 1982, the percentage of rush-hour traffic considered congested has nearly doubled. Here’s a look at that upward trend, according to the 2012 Urban Mobility Report issued by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

All of this costs commuters money — in lost time and extra fuel. The institute estimates congestion in 2011 cost Nashville commuters $801 million.

Future growth

Middle Tennessee is expected to add more than 1 million residents over the next two decades, putting additional strain on the region’s streets and highways. Traffic at the top 20 busiest intersections in Nashville, for instance, is estimated to grow by more than 15 percent by 2035.

In planning for The Amp, a bus rapid transit project proposed to run from West Nashville to the Five Points area of East Nashville, the Metro Transit Authority released a traffic analysis last year showing current delays at key intersections along the route.

The analysis gives a snapshot of traffic delays along a corridor that moves through the heart of Nashville.

Tools for easing congestion

So what’s the solution to the traffic mess? Knauf and Skipper say there are a number of tools local officials can draw upon to help ease congestion.

Some of Nashville’s busiest intersections are on major corridors. Metro Public Works conducts a study every five years to look at re-timing traffic signals to keep vehicles moving, Knauf said. Synchronized traffic lights are a way to help keep traffic flowing.

“We really try to keep them coordinated,” he said.

Likewise, a system called adaptive signal technology takes syncing lights to the next level.

Rather than just re-timing lights every few years, computers change the intervals on the fly based current traffic conditions. Mt. Juliet will be the first city in the region to adopt it under a $653,000 program.

“This is only new technology to our area,” Skipper said. “It has proven successful.”

Adding lanes also is always an option, but Knauf said that can prove expensive and there isn’t always room.

“It frankly would probably be a waste of everyone’s money,” Skipper added.

Transportation planners and city officials say the region will not be able to cope with its long-term growth without mass transit. Already, the Metro Transit Authority has added bus rapid transit lite, a type of express bus, to key corridors on Gallatin Pike and Murfreesboro Pike.

The Amp, a full BRT to run from West Nashville to the Five Points are of East Nashville, also is in the works. City officials say it is needed to ease current and future congestion, although some critics say it will not make things worse along West End Avenue.

Pedestrian friendly development closer to where people work also can keep cars off the roads.

Particularly in surrounding counties, many workers hit the road to come to Nashville for their jobs. The following table illustrates the issue.

County

Commuters to Nashville

Percent

Cheatham

5,065

55%

Dickson

5,960

27%

Maury

4,190

11%

Montgomery

5,065

7%

Robertson

10,905

36%

Rutherford

28,515

24%

Sumner

28,150

38%

Williamson

28,195

34%

Wilson

21,800

41%

Metro has rezoned parts of midtown to foster denser development. Skipper says the market will ultimately make that happen over time. He said local governments can help by providing the needed public improvements, such as roads and sidewalks.

“The public sector push to provide that infrastructure is our way to enable that to actually happen,” Skipper said.

Reader reaction

The public has strong opinions on the traffic issue. The Tennessean recently asked readers on Facebook to weigh in on the areas they consider bad and what should be done to help make the situation better.

• “Real public transportation is desperately needed. Roads can only be reasonably widened so far,” Josh Hedge posted.

• “Synchronized red lights would make a difference especially on Charlotte Pike from 7th Avenue to 28th. It is ridiculous to get a green light at one intersection only to stop at the next red light and then the next and the next because the lights are out of synch,” Susan Lowe posted.

• “More, quality public transit. Make the Music City Star an actual star instead of a line,” Matt Davis wrote.

“I'm from the Tampa Bay area. We have bad traffic in our area. I always think we have ineffective politicians who never heard of urban planning. Then I travel to Nashville and our traffic situation doesn't look nearly as bad as what's going on up there. I love all the places to go and listen to great music in Nashville, but I absolutely hate everything about the road system in that whole area. Everywhere terrible congestion and difficulty parking downtown,” wrote Art Spaulding.